Ofcom plans to allow mobile-phone calls via satellite

Ofcom has announced plans to let people make mobile-phone calls by satellite, claiming it’ll mean the UK becoming the “first country in Europe to press ahead with the next frontier in mobile connectivity”. The telecoms regulator wants to trial ‘direct-to-device’ technology that allows satellites to beam signals straight to standard smartphones, so they can make calls, send texts and connect to the internet when there’s no 4G or 5G coverage from masts on the ground. Until now mobile satellite ser...